Council officials will meet stakeholders in the planned Shop Local campaign this Thursday with a view to piloting the scheme in the city. In December, councillors agreed to pursue the strategy in a bid to stimulate the local economy and at Monday night’s monthly meeting (January 7) details of progress were provided. According to council director of administration Eddy Curtis: “A meeting was held with the acting chief executive of the Chamber of Commerce (Colleen Dowdall) and the chamber has written to its members. There will be a meeting on Thursday to discuss implementation. The project will be piloted in Newry and then hopefully extended through the district. Some funding will be available from the Newry Revitalisation Scheme which was part of the recent public realm scheme.” Fews councillor Pat McGinn who had initially proposed the initiative said that he had received positive feedback in relation to its merits. “The issue has generated a lot of interest,” he said. “There is a realisation and commitment that we have to stand up and support our traders. If we can do that this year it is a very positive message to send out.” These sentiments were echoed across the chamber by Crotlieve councillor Connaire McGreevy (SDLP). “It was a good motion and deserves support,” he said. “We need to boost business any way we can. We need to enhance and build upon it.”
Newry Reporter
9th January 2013
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